[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 67 (Thursday, May 13, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5481-S5484]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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    SENATE RESOLUTION 360--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT 
    LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION SHALL BE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE THROUGH THE 
                                INTERNET

  Mr. CORZINE (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. 
Leahy, Mr. Bingaman, and Mr. Lieberman) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules and 
Administration:

                              S. Res. 360

       Whereas an open and free exchange of information about the 
     legislative process is critical to ensuring the success and 
     health of a democracy;
       Whereas the public should have easy and timely electronic 
     access to public records of Congress;
       Whereas congressional documents that are placed in the 
     Congressional Record are made available to the public 
     electronically by the Superintendent of Documents of the 
     Government Printing Office, under the direction of the Public 
     Printer, but it is often difficult and time-consuming for the 
     public to access and locate such documents;
        Whereas many official congressional documents are not 
     placed in the Congressional Record and are unavailable 
     electronically to the public; and
       Whereas the current system for electronic public access to 
     legislative information and legislative resources, as 
     maintained by the Library of Congress, could be improved, and 
     should be continuously upgraded to keep pace with advances in 
     website technology: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) the Library of Congress shall continue to provide and 
     maintain a website for public access to legislative 
     documents;
       (2) the website shall provide access to as much information 
     about current and historical legislative documents as is 
     reasonably practicable;
       (3) the Library of Congress shall provide sufficient 
     financial and personnel resources to maintain the website at 
     modern standards of accessibility and usability; and
       (4) offices and personnel that develop and maintain 
     congressional documents shall cooperate to the maximum extent 
     practicable with the Library of Congress to ensure that the 
     Library of Congress website has full and prompt access to all 
     publicly available congressional documents.

  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, today, along with Senators McCain, 
Feingold, Cornyn, Leahy, and Bingaman, I am submitting a resolution 
designed to make it easier for the American people to get information 
about Congress from the Internet.
  Almost 10 years ago, the Library of Congress started the THOMAS 
website, which was one of the first electronic references for the 
public to get up-to-date information about legislation. The

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Library did a tremendous job getting THOMAS ready, and I commend their 
hard work in maintaining it over the past 10 years. However, THOMAS 
recently has begun to show its age. Although there have been some 
improvements over time, the Library has been unable to devote the 
resources necessary to keep THOMAS up to the level the public expects 
for today's websites. One reason is that the Library has never been 
formally told by either Chamber of Congress that it has a 
responsibility to maintain a website for public access to legislative 
information.
  In contrast, the Congressional Research Service was given a mandate 
to maintain a legislative information website for Members of Congress 
and their staffs in the 1997 Legislative Branch Appropriations 
conference report. The Legislative Information System that Congress 
uses is vastly superior to THOMAS, both in terms of functionality and 
ease of use. For example, LIS users are able to search across multiple 
Congresses to find information about bills; THOMAS users must search 
each Congress individually. In LIS, links to committee reports, if 
available, are provided along with the basic information about a bill. 
In THOMAS, a user must make a separate search to find the report. In 
LIS, the names of bill sponsors can be clicked on to find other bills 
sponsored by that Member; that feature is not available in THOMAS. And 
anyone who has used both LIS and THOMAS has seen that the LIS site is 
much more attractive and usable, and has benefited from continual 
improvements that have not been matched on THOMAS. When it comes to 
obtaining the public legislative information of Congress, there should 
not be such a significant difference between what we use and what the 
public uses.
  Obviously, the American people have the right to see all the public 
documents of Congress. And, if we are to be true to our nation's 
democratic values, this information should be as easy to find as 
possible. It is not sufficient that those who are truly interested can 
make the extra effort necessary to find what they need; we should be 
encouraging people to become interested. Americans should be able to 
easily go to the Internet and get legislative information directly from 
Congress, instead of having to rely on what they see and hear from 
others. We can facilitate this by creating a visually appealing, 
helpful, useful, and accessible public portal to the United States 
Congress.
  Although THOMAS was a good start, it badly needs to be improved. This 
resolution will tell the Library of Congress that the Senate is paying 
attention, and that we will insist on that improvement.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution and help ensure we 
have a public legislative information website we can be proud of.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, government transparency is fundamental to 
democracy. This well-known truism is a staple of every sermon about 
democracy. We sometimes take it for granted, but we shouldn't--
especially today. For one thing, the world is watching if and how we 
practice what we preach. For another, during this most partisan of 
political times, it is essential that citizens be able to judge us not 
only on what we say, but on what we do.
  Therefore, I am particularly pleased to join today with Senators 
Corzine, Cornyn, Feingold, Bingaman and Lieberman to submit a 
resolution that will provide citizens with expanded and more easily 
accessible information about legislation and the legislative process.
  In particular, we are calling on the Library of Congress to improve 
its public website, called ``THOMAS,'' in order to provide as much 
legislative information as is reasonably practical. In addition, 
because Internet technology continues to advance so rapidly, we are 
asking the Library to maintain THOMAS in a manner that reflects current 
standards of accessibility and usability.
  In December of 2003, together with Senator Corzine and others, I 
wrote to Dr. James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, and asked him 
to redesign THOMAS to provide, as much as possible, information to the 
general public that is already available to congressional staff through 
the congressional Legislative Information System. Dr. Billington and 
his staff agreed to work with us to improve THOMAS, and the resolution 
we introduce today is a result of this constructive process. I would 
like to thank Dr. Billington and his staff for their cooperation and 
their appreciation of the importance of this effort.
  The Library of Congress has a well-known and well-deserved reputation 
as a source of reliable, unbiased, and comprehensive information. Our 
resolution will harness the power of the Information Age to allow 
citizens to see more public records of the Senate in their official 
form, in context, and without editorial comment.
  The taxpayers of this country, who pay millions of dollars a year to 
fund the Library of Congress, as well as to fund Congress itself, 
deserve speedy access to this public information. They have a right to 
see that their money is being spent well. As Thomas Jefferson wrote, 
``Information is the currency of democracy.''
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SENATE RESOLUTION 361--SUPPORTING THE GOALS OF NATIONAL MARINA DAY AND 
URGING MARINAS TO CONTINUE PROVIDING ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY GATEWAYS 
                               TO BOATING

  Mr. CHAMBLISS submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation:

                              S. Res. 361

       Whereas the people of the United States highly value their 
     recreational time and their ability to access the waterways 
     of the United States, one of the Nation's greatest natural 
     resources;
       Whereas in 1928, the National Association of Engine and 
     Boat Manufacturers first used the word ``marina'' to describe 
     a recreational boating facility;
       Whereas the United States is home to more than 12,000 
     marinas that contribute substantially to local communities by 
     providing safe and reliable gateways to boating;
       Whereas the marinas of the United States serve as stewards 
     of the environment and actively seek to protect the waterways 
     that surround them for the enjoyment of this generation and 
     generations to come;
       Whereas the marinas of the United States provide 
     communities and visitors with a place where friends and 
     families, united by a passion for the water, can come 
     together for recreation, rest, and relaxation; and
       Whereas the Marina Operators Association of America has 
     designated August 14, 2004, as ``National Marina Day'' to 
     increase awareness among citizens, policymakers, and elected 
     officials about the many contributions that marinas make to 
     communities: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) supports the goals of National Marina Day; and
       (2) urges that the marinas of the United States continue to 
     provide environmentally friendly gateways to boating for the 
     people of the United States.

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise today to submit legislation 
designating August 14, 2004, as National Marina Day to honor America's 
marinas for their many contributions to local communities. This year's 
celebration will be held in Georgia on Lake Sidney Lanier, one of the 
largest U.S. Army Corps of Engineer lakes in the nation, and home to 10 
marinas. National Marina Day was created by the Marine Operators 
Association of America to educate civic leaders, government leaders, 
and the public about the important role that the marina industry plays 
in cities and towns across America as family-friendly gateways to 
boating and outdoor recreation.
  Georgia's Lake Lanier consists of 39,000 acres of water and 692 miles 
of shoreline. The lake was originally authorized by the United States 
Congress in 1946 for the purposes of power production, flood control, 
downstream navigation, and fish and wildlife management. Over the 
years, recreation has become a major factor in the lake's attraction to 
8 million visitors each year. According to a recent study commissioned 
by the Metro Atlanta Marine Trade Association, Lake Lanier generates 
nearly $5.5 billion in annual economic impact from jobs created on and 
around the lake, restaurants, hotels and resorts, camping and 
recreation, real estate sales, boat and marine dealers, and marinas.
  National Marina Day will be held for the third year in a row, is set 
to have its most successful year yet, in no small part by the tireless 
work of the President of the Marina Operators of Lake Lanier, Kirby Cay 
Scheimann, State Representative Stacy Reece of

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Gainesville, Georgia, the President of the Marina Operators Association 
of America, Bill Anderson, and the President of the International 
Marina Institute, Gregg Kenney. I am grateful for all the hard work 
that everyone involved has contributed to making National Marina Day a 
huge success.
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   SENATE RESOLUTION 362--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE ON THE 
 DEDICATION OF THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL ON MAY 29, 2004, IN 
 RECOGNITION OF THE DUTY, SACRIFICES, AND VALOR OF THE MEMBERS OF THE 
      ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES WHO SERVED IN WORLD WAR II

  Mr. Graham of Florida (for himself, Mr. Specter, Mr. Edwards, Mr. 
Levin, Mr. Reed, Mr. Feingold, Ms. Murkowski, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. 
Murray, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Biden, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Daschle, Ms. Stabenow, 
Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Graham  of South Carolina, 
Mr. Talent, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Bond, 
Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Miller, Mr. Inouye, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Stevens, Mr. 
Fitzgerald, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Dayton, Mr. 
Dorgan, Mr. Coleman, Mrs. Dole, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. 
Rockefeller, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Burns, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Reid, 
Mr. Sessions, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Cornyn, Ms. Collins, Mr. 
Wyden, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Craig, Mr. Bunning, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kohl, Mr. 
Warner, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Brownback, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. 
Nelson of Nebraska, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Chafee, Mr. 
Hatch, Mrs. Boxer, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Gregg, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Baucus, Mr. 
Durbin, Mr. McCain, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Hollings, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. 
Smith, Mr. Sununu, Mr. Nickles, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Ensign, 
Mr. Carper, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Grassley, Mr. 
Enzi, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Allen, Mrs. Lincoln, and Mr. Allard) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 362

       Whereas the National World War II Memorial is being 
     dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004, on the National Mall in 
     Washington, District of Columbia;
       Whereas the National World War II Memorial, a monument of 
     granite and bronze, has a fitting location on the National 
     Mall situated between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln 
     Memorial and flanked by memorials dedicated to the members of 
     the Armed Forces of the United States who served and died in 
     the Korean War and in the Vietnam era;
       Whereas the National World War II Memorial is dedicated to 
     the more than 16,000,000 individuals from the 48 States, the 
     District of Columbia, and the territories and possession of 
     the United States who served in the Army, Army Air Force, 
     Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine in World 
     War II;
       Whereas on May 29, 2004, hundreds of thousands of veterans, 
     and their families and friends, from across the United States 
     will gather on the National Mall to join in the dedication of 
     the National World War II Memorial and to pay homage to the 
     memory of the more than 400,000 members of the Armed Forces 
     of the United States who died while serving during World War 
     II and the more than 10,000,000 veterans of the Armed Forces 
     of the United States in World War II who have died since the 
     end of World War II;
       Whereas on May 29, 2004, the Nation will pay tribute to all 
     the members of the Armed Forces of the United States who 
     served in World War II;
       Whereas on May 29, 2004, the Nation will remember the duty, 
     sacrifices, and valor of the members of the Armed Forces of 
     the United States who served on land and sea and in the air 
     in the more than 89 campaigns conducted in the European and 
     Pacific theaters of operations in World War II;
        Whereas on May 29, 2004, the Nation will acknowledge that 
     the men and women who served in the Armed Forces of the 
     United States in World War II came from all the States, the 
     District of Columbia, and all the territories and possessions 
     of the United States and represented men and women of all 
     races, religions, ethnic groups, professions, educational 
     attainments, and backgrounds, all united in the goal of 
     serving their Country and preserving freedom; and
       Whereas construction of the National World War II Memorial 
     would not have possible without the donations of hundreds of 
     thousands of individual Americans, as well as corporations, 
     foundations, veterans groups, professional and fraternal 
     organizations, communities, and schools, who all acknowledged 
     that a memorial should be constructed in the National Capital 
     to recognize and pay tribute to the duty, sacrifices, and 
     valor of all the members of the Armed Forces of the United 
     States who served in World War II: Now, therefore be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate--
       (1) to express the grateful thanks of the Nation to the 
     more than 16,000,000 individuals who served in the Army, Army 
     Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Merchant 
     Marine in World War II and to the millions of Americans on 
     the home front who contributed to the war effort during World 
     War II; and
       (2) to recognize the dedication of the National World War 
     II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, District of 
     Columbia, on May 29, 2004, as an occasion to acknowledge and 
     pay tribute to the duty, sacrifices, and valor of all the 
     members of the Armed Forces of the United States who served 
     in World War II, a group known collectively as the ``Greatest 
     Generation''.

  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, on Saturday, May 29th, we will dedicate a 
national memorial to the more than 16 million men and women who served 
from December 1940 to August 1945 in our Army, Army Air Force, Navy, 
Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines, as well as the 400,000 
men and women who gave their lives during World War II.
  The memorial is a fitting tribute to all who served and contributed 
to the war effort at home and abroad. When visitors enter the memorial, 
they are greeted with an inscription that puts the memorial, its 
placement on the National Mall and its importance to our nation into 
perspective: ``Here in the presence of Washington and Lincoln, one the 
18th century father and the other the 19th century preserver of our 
nation, we honor those 20th century Americans who took up the struggle 
during the Second World War and made the sacrifices to perpetuate the 
gift of our forefathers entrusted to us: a nation conceived in liberty 
and justice.''
  The memorial, composed of bronze and granite, has a memorial plaza 
and a rainbow pool as its main features. These features symbolize the 
totality of the war effort, both at home and overseas. Its two arches 
depict the two theaters of the war--the Atlantic and the Pacific. The 
fifty-six pillars represent every state and territory that committed 
men and women to the effort. A ``freedom wall'' with 4,000 sculpted 
gold stars commemorates the more than 400,000 Americans who died while 
serving in the armed forces during the war.
  I hope that for generations to come, this memorial, will etch into 
the collective memory of all Americans who visit the sense of duty, 
patriotism, valor and sacrifice of the millions of citizens--men and 
women, from all walks of life, from America's farms and cities, made up 
of all races, religions and ethnicities--who served and who answered 
their nation's call in a time of great need.
  This memorial is truly a shrine to democracy. World War II was a test 
of our Nation's democracy, against the forces of fascism and 
totalitarianism, which threatened to engulf the globe. Americans 
combated this evil as citizens of the world's bastion of democracy. It 
is only fitting that around each memorial flagpole--flying the symbol 
of a free and democratic people--is inscribed, ``Americans came to 
liberate, not to conquer, to restore freedom and to end tyranny.''
  America's spirit was captured by President Franklin Roosevelt when he 
said of his countrymen, ``They have given their sons to the military 
services. They have stoked the furnaces and hurried the factory wheels. 
They have made the planes and welded the tanks, riveted the ships and 
rolled the shells.'' It was through the collective contribution of 
millions of Americans that victory was ultimately achieved.
  At war's end, General Douglas McArthur said it best when accepting 
the surrender of the Japanese in Tokyo Bay, ``Today the guns are 
silent. The great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won. The 
skies no longer rain death--the seas bear only commerce--men everywhere 
walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world is quietly at peace.''
  I hope that when Americans visit this memorial and pay tribute to the 
millions of veterans who served to preserve our freedom, they will 
realize there was a time when the mission was clear, the cause was just 
and righteous and Americans were united in their quest for victory. As 
a nation, we honor the memory of ordinary Americans who were asked by 
their country

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to perform extraordinary feats, rose to the challenge and will forever 
be remembered.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, that would resolve 
it to be the sense of the Senate to express the grateful thanks of the 
nation to the more than 16 million veterans who served in the Army, 
Army Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine in 
World War II and to the millions of Americans on the home front who 
contributed to the war effort during World War II and to recognize the 
dedication of the National World War II Memorial on the National Mall 
in Washington, the District of Columbia, on May 29, 2004, as an 
occasion to acknowledge and pay tribute to the duty, sacrifices and 
valor of all members of the Armed Forces of the United States who 
served in World War II, a group known collectively as the ``Greatest 
Generation.''

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